I am a freshman at Ursinus
College in PA. I have recently
been working on a research
paper on Guatemala for my politics
class and came across some
research that greatly disturbed
me. In Guatemala and other
Latin American countries there
is a different kind of genocide
taking place, and it is called "femicide."

Thousands
of women are being sexually
abused, tortured, and murdered,
simply because it is fashionable
for men. These murders are
not being viewed as important
to these Latin American governments
and not a single country is
doing anything about it. So
far approximately three people
have been put in jail because
they murdered their wife, mothers,
sister, whomever. Men are getting
away with murdering thousands
of women and no one seems to
care.

As a feminist organization,
I urge you to inform your followers
of the unthinkable acts that
are taking place in countries
not too far away from our own.
I beg you to research this
topic and help raise awareness
for these poor women, who are
being terrorized every day.
These women need our help,
and it is our duty to assist
and protect these women.

We are very familiar with
femicide — it's what's
happening in the Congo, what
happened in Mexico, and so
on...it is an epidemic, but
is overlooked specifically
because it is a female problem
or a problem disproportionately
affecting women.

Another example
of this is Sept. 11th — before
Sept. 11th the only people
concerned with the Taliban
were feminists, who noted that
women and girls were being
denied an education and other
basic human rights. Then their
extreme regime affected others
and finally the world cared.
Sadly, it's not a new problem.
I think that it is important
for you to speak out and to
see how it might also be happening
closer to home. Also, I think
that one of the main ways to
spur people to action is education — so
doing what you are doing is
a great start. I hope you can
spread the word to your campus
and community and beyond.